Chapter 446: Foreign Spies

"God, I hate this fucking place." Within Brookhaven, a man spoke in perfect Veria, the language of Severia, to his comrade as he scooped up a piece of food with his wooden spoon. The man opposite him chuckled in agreement and looked around.

"You know, we have to talk in their language." Speaking in the Ammar language, the other man acted as if he had swallowed dirt, saying that and leaning forward, switching to Veria, "It doesn’t even sound nice, let alone saying it." Scoping up another bite of food, he stared at it for a few seconds and sighed, dropping the bite of food, unable to eat the chunk of cold vegetables.

"I know how you feel. Ahhh, I want to go home." The man picked up the mug of beer and downed it. The other chuckled, enjoying his own beer. After a year in the Empire, it was the one thing that he could stand to taste in the foreign land.

"Right," he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small document. "Our man got back to us. You are James Rogers. I am Nathan Wells. Two start-up merchants."

The other man took the document and looked over it, "Despite everything, I must give credit where it is due. The amount of information they collect on people is staggering." Looking at the bottom of the document, the seal of the Golden Bank rested nicely, "Will they sell our information to the Ammary Emperor?"

"They will give it without cost. I’ve been told that the guy running the Golden Bank, a man named Anton, is a close confidant of the Emperor. But we will stay under the radar. Although the amount of loans they hand out to people is much less than when the bank was founded, there are still too many and too small a thing to get his attention. At least this way, we have gathered funds."

"Won’t they get suspicious when we don’t start paying them back?" Nathan shook his head, already solving the issue.

"The church has placed great importance on our work. I’ve sent a request for a steady stream of funds to pay back the bank’s loan. How they decide to do the payments without arousing suspicions is up to them. After all, a new business able to pay back its loans instantly is a bit strange."

James opened his mouth and downed his beer. "Have you finished?" Getting a nod from Nathan, the two stood up, paid the small fee and left the tavern, heading for their carriage. The driver was someone under their command, putting the two at ease to finally talk in their native tongue.

Looking out the carriage windows, they saw the muddy streets of Brookhaven as people went about their daily business. Stalls opened along the edge of the road as people hurried from place to place. Loud conversations that were harmless quieted down when soldiers walked past, an almost instinctive reaction from the people of Brookhaven.

Nathan scoffed at the sight and stopped looking. "How anyone likes living here is beyond me. The people can’t even trust themselves to speak in the presence of the military."

"A place built on fear." James sighed, "The Emperor is really strange. He loves to be seen as a good man, but his people are terrified of his reputation."

"It is a mystery why they haven’t revolted against him yet. Maybe they just need the push." Nathan said with a tone that was half expecting Jame to agree. His expectations were crushed when he heard his comrade chuckle.

"Good luck. They are terrified of him, but they also love him. Why did they send you to me? You don’t even know this basic information." Nathan shrugged, just as confused as James, about why he would be sent to a place he hardly knew anything about, other than the language. "Listen. The people won’t revolt in the core Ammary lands. The trust and love they have for the Emperor outweigh their dislike for his tyrannical control. Maybe they would in the new Livonik territories, and they already tried in the Safrid territories. That was crushed, however."

"So, causing a revolt won’t work." James shook his head, making Nathan sigh. "Then why are we here. They didn’t tell me anything before shipping me off. Just follow the orders of the network already set up."

"Gathering information is the main thing. That is already underway. But I was given another mission recently. They want me to do something to aggravate the Emperor. Anything will do as long as it distracts him for long enough. Then the invasion is meant to take place. I don’t know the specifics about that." Nathan continued to stare at his boss, waiting for him to explain his plans. James sighed at having to explain everything to his subordinate, internally cursing why they sent someone so inexperienced in Ammary politics to him.

"Listen, we have a good idea of who the Emperor is. He’s a control freak. Ruin something, and he will desperately try to fix the issue. Secondly, he is very distrusting. Only a few people in the Empire have his ear, and none of them would betray him. Third, he’s a family man. He appears cold to the world, but a little investigation revealed how he treats his children and wife. Finally, he’s very secretive. It is a basic description of the man, but enough to know how to mess with him."

Nathan nodded and grabbed his chin, leaning back into his chair, "If they want us to distract him, we have to target his family or allies."

"A very easy thing to say. We have created a list of potential targets. At the top and best for Severia’s interests is the Empress. If we could kidnap her, the Emperor is likely to lose his mind in anger. The problem is, she is so heavily guarded it’s unfeasible. Same with the Prime Ministers, Duke Flanders, General Hardly, Duchess Godwin, Count Underwell. Really, any of the top brass of the Empire." Nathan dryly chuckled at the impossibility of the mission.

"Then what are we doing. We can’t go after his family or anyone important. So are we going to take out nobles until so many are dead that he is forced to refocus his attention? That sounds just as impossible."

James mysteriously smiled and beckoned Nathan to look out the window. He hadn’t noticed until now, but the two had left the walls of Brookhaven and were riding through a small but incredibly wealthy village located just outside. Towering over the manors was the Lindonfall Academy. The academy was first established after Alfred acquired the surrounding land and manors. Using them as a base, more land was acquired over time, expanding the academy, and ever since, construction has never seemed to come to a finish.

All around, servants and guards of nobles stood waiting whilst the Ammary military patrolled. Sprinkled in around, foreign soldiers and servants stood waiting for students who had been sent to Ammar to study at the academy. The carriage stopped, and the two waited in silence for a while, not daring to talk in such a place so heavily watched. Nathan watched with great interest as the door opened, a young man stepping in. The carriage didn’t move straight away.

After thirty minutes, a carriage bearing the symbol of a golden lion wearing a black crown rolled through, surrounded by guards. "The Imperial children come here. David has been our man on the inside to keep watch over the situation." Jame slammed his fist on the carriage walls, telling the driver to finally move.

"It’s heavily protected." Nathan pointed out the obvious to the two of them.

"Yes, but it’s not just the Imperial children. Many powerful families of the Empire have sent their kids. More specifically, the Prime Minister." David was the one to answer, but sighed, "The only problem is the Imperial children have a guard, a very dangerous one. And that’s the only one we see. There could be more." David looked into Nathan’s eyes. "You know of the fighting pits in Bactria, right?" Nathan nodded, having spent a year there before. "Their guard is a champion of the pits. One who was marked at a minimum of five times."

Nathan’s face froze hearing that. He knew what it meant and could only wonder how the Emperor got his hands on someone like that, especially with slavey outlawed in Ammar. In battle, such a person would make a small difference, but as a personal guard, it was someone you didn’t want to encounter; many Bactrian nobles bought the fighting pit champions for themselves.

"Forgive me, but do you have a plan. This all seems impossible." Nathan was brutally honest, looking between the two. His words caused the two to look at one another and laugh.

"Of course we do. Whilst the common people would never support us, the nobles of the Empire are another story. They hate the Emperor more than the Church does. Currently, David is researching which nobles have children enrolled in the academy. We’re going to use the children to get close to the Imperial family or the Prime Minister’s son. Once we have, we’re going to try and nab them and go into hiding."

Nathan looked to the ground and took a deep breath, "It’s very dangerous. A lot could die if we fail."

At his words, James showed a look of confusion. "Are you worried about Ammary nobles. Don’t tell me you’re still green?"

"Of course not. I just mean, will they want to work with us? I don’t know a lot about Ammar, but I do know the Crown Prince was kidnapped once. The fate of those people isn’t exactly a secret. The Emperor tortured and exterminated whole families because of it. Quite a way to persuade others from being so reckless."

"Correction. The Empress carried out all that herself. Quite a scary woman." James thinly smiled at the information he had discovered before. "You are right, however, but they fear this even without taking any action. It’s a matter of finding someone who hates them enough and is too stupid or angry to realise how bad the consequences are to do this."

James fell into thought, and the more he thought about it, the more he agreed with the plan. He knew they hardly had room to move, and without anything better to propose, happily agreed. "What do you want me to do?"

"For now, learn a little about Ammar culture and politics. After that, you will be responsible for collecting information from David. This will free me up to focus on other matters. The sooner we are done, the sooner we go home." Nathan nodded and closed his eyes, ready to relax. James moved quickly, seeing that, and leaned forward, grabbing his collar and pulling him forward, his other hand touching the arteries of his neck like a claw.

"I am warning you, now. Do not mess up. If you do, forget the Emperor, I will personally make it so you beg for death. Am I clear?" Nathan showed no fear, knowing how the personalities of his superiors and sternly nodded.

"I understand." Only when he was satisfied did James let go and relax.